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Olympic Nordic Centre sparks concerns

Callaghan Country, First Nations object to size of legacy backcountry facilities

clare@piquenewsmagazine.com

The latest plans for the Olympic Nordic Centre have raised the ire of a Whistler backcountry ski tour operator and First Nations.

"I don’t believe they have fully engaged our companies and other stakeholders," said Brad Sills of Callaghan Country.

Sills plans to file a letter with the Environmental Assessment Office that is reviewing plans for the Nordic centre in the Callaghan Valley. In the latest plans the legacy trails have grown to as much as 100 kilometres, close to three times what is needed to host the Olympic events said Sills. Some of those trails run adjacent to and intermingle with Callaghan Country’s own set of trails. Callaghan Country’s lodge is just 12 km from the Nordic Centre.

The latest proposal from VANOC also includes some accommodation at the Nordic Centre, as well as camping and a RV site. As far as Sills is concerned that means VANOC is proposing a business which could operate in direct competition to his own.

Alternately VANOC could sit and talk with Callaghan Country, which holds a licence for backcountry operations in the area, and get a plan in place for the legacy operation.

"I have been told it is too soon in the process to sit down," said Sills. "(In the letter) I will strongly urge them to commence these discussions on how (Callaghan Country) can merge with VANOC to create a truly fantastic comprehensive Nordic Centre.

"We need a resolution to the business operations of (Callaghan Country and the Nordic Centre) and I think there is one. Let’s get going with these discussions. Now is the time. It would be very difficult for us and a lot of the business community to support a rezoning process prior to the successful conclusions of these business agreements."

Sills is not alone in his concerns. Representatives of the Squamish and Lil’wat First Nations have also submitted a letter to the provincial government outlining concerns they have about the proposed development of the Nordic centre site.

"(The) facilities go well beyond the original ‘footprint’ of the Whistler Nordic Centre that the First Nations understood was being developed in the Callaghan Valley," states a letter posted on the provincial Web site dealing with the environmental review process for the Whistler Nordic Centre.

Neither Squamish Chief Bill Williams nor Lil’wat chief Leonard Andrew was available for comment at deadline.

The concern, as outlined in the letter, is that the backcountry legacy facilities appear to infringe on the "aboriginal rights and title interests of the First Nations in that area." It also points out that the Squamish Nation’s Xay Temixw Land Use Plan identifies the upper Callaghan Valley as a Wild Spirit Place and the legacy proposals do not take this designation into account. The letter calls on the provincial government to consult the Squamish and Lil’wat First Nations prior to any approval of the project by the Environmental Assessment Office.

And both First Nations want a clearer definition of what the legacy trail system and facilities might look like before they make any more submissions on the proposed plan.

The Nordic facility and some legacy facilities associated with it are currently under review by the EAO. Three public open houses have been held in the Sea to Sky corridor and all stakeholders and the public have been invited to submit comments on the proposal to date.

Located 12.5 kilometres from Whistler Village the Whistler Nordic Centre will be the site of the 2010 Olympic ski jumping facilities, biathlon, including a shooting range and trails, and a cross country stadium and associated trails. The proposed site will also have summer and winter recreational amenities. As well as the proposed accommodation it might include a natural luge run, a snow play area with tube park, an outdoor skating rink and a hut to hut ski touring and a hiking system.

George McKay, director of environmental approvals for VANOC, said the plan is still moving through the approval process and input from all the stakeholders including First Nations and licence holders is expected.

"Clearly conversations are going on right now between the province, the First Nations and VANOC about the issues raised in that letter," he said. "Dealing with those is what this process is all about. We tell them what we are thinking and they tell us what their concerns are and we try and resolve those matters."

McKay said the majority of the plan has come up before in discussions, although the bid book only outlined those facilities needed to host the Games.

"These are part and parcel of the work that was done in the Callaghan Master Plan," he said. "During the exercise we talked to people about what their thoughts were on what would be a good fit.

"…All the issues were raised and dealt with at the table in the Master Planning stage and Squamish and Lil’wat were participants, as were the Resort Municipality of Whistler and the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District."

The process is somewhat complicated, as it entails not just securing the environmental approval for the venue itself but also for the many possible uses after the Games. McKay said VANOC is shepherding the plan through the system but all the parties are at the table.

VANOC will be disbanded before the Nordic Centre moves into its legacy role. After the Games it will be run by a separate entity funded through an Olympic endowment. The transition to post Games use will be smoother if as much of the review process, planning and design as possible is done before construction, said McKay. It is also cheaper and more efficient to do it that way, he added.

"Clearly we want to work on the basis that what we put in there will be complementary to the Whistler experience, and complementary to the type of things that people see happening in the Callaghan Valley," said McKay.

"I would like to think that we have demonstrated a commitment to being out there in the public and meeting with people and hearing those concerns and I think our plan has changed a lot to respond to the issues that have been raised."

However, McKay admits that there are likely to be issues that don’t get resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. And there are bound to be long standing issues raised during the process, which may side track it.

"I imagine, in the end, there will be those that will want to use the Games to raise other issues that have been around for a long time and we are going to get caught up in that," he said. "And we are going to do what we can do to make things better. But there are going to be some things that are not within our ability to affect."

McKay hopes the environmental review process will be completed by March 2005 so plans to break ground for construction this summer will be able to go ahead.